Science and theology

A conference titled “Science, Cultures, and the Future of Humanity” was held from May 30 to June 1 in Doha, Qatar, and brought together scientists and theologians, both Muslim and non-Muslim. It is probably the first such gathering to bring together religious leaders and scientists. Such events are rare in Islamic countries for fear of offending religious traditionalists, but it seems this gathering was quite successful.

The event was jointly organized by the Al Jazeera Center for Studies (the think tank of the Arabic television network Al Jazeera) and the Interdisciplinary University of Paris, whose Science and Religion in Islam program is a major grantee of the Templeton Foundation, which funds works on the “big questions” of science, religion, and human purpose.

Participants included biggies in their fields: Jean Staune, founder and general secretary of the IUP; Roald Hoffmann of Cornell University, the 1981 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry; Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the host of a weekly program on Al Jazeera and an influential theologian; Nidhal Guessoum, an astrophysicist at the American University of Sharjah; Bruno Abd-al-Haqq Guiderdoni, an astrophysicist who directs the Observatory of Lyon; Eric Geoffroy, an Arab philologist and specialist on Sufism at the University Marc Bloch in Strasbourg; and Charles Townes of the University of California-Berkeley, winner of the 1964 Nobel Prize in Physics (and of the 2005 Templeton Prize).

The conference also won wide coverage and positive notices in the Arab press and on Arabic websites. The conference was entirely funded by Al Jazeera, which also gave the event extensive coverage. All fifteen hours of the conference were broadcast live on Al Jazeera Mubashir, a public affairs channel, and three hours of interviews with conference participants were broadcast on the main Al Jazeera channel, with an average audience of more than 60 million viewers.

Dialogue is always good. I hope the participants and the viewers gained greater understanding of both science and religion and that everyone shows toleration and consideration for the different points of view. And may there be more such gathering in the future.